Kim Deal Goes Solo, and 7 More New Songs

Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier, a twice-weekly guide to new and old songs.

Kim Deal, ‘Coast’

“Coast,” a delightfully woozy solo single from the eternally cool Breeders frontwoman Kim Deal, begins with a kind of self-deprecating punchline: “I’ve had a hard, hard landing/I really should duck and roll out,” she sings in her inimitable voice, pausing to add with great comic timing, “Out of my life.” Deal has said that the song was inspired by a wedding band she saw cover “Margaritaville,” but part of the track’s charm is that despite its surf-rock lilt and buoyant horn section, she is never quite able to tap into those blissful vacation vibes. Instead, it is a song about shrugging and carrying on in spite of what bums you out; the fact that it was produced by Steve Albini, who died in May, adds an extra note of elegiac bittersweetness. LINDSAY ZOLADZ

Joy Oladokun, ‘Drugs’

What seems like an idle complaint — “The drugs don’t work/Oh I can’t get high”— expands into a cry from the heart, as Joy Oladokun sings about no longer being able to numb herself from rage, loneliness and “running on empty and calling it strength.” Luckily, she has a bluesy backbeat and gospel-choir harmonies to lift her spirits. JON PARELES